TODAY I visited Smile Beauty Clinic in Glasgow for my first ever professional massage experience. Rockin' Roy sometimes attempts amateur massage at home but he's not qualified and he says my back is made of rocks.

My massage treat was the result of Wowcher voucher. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the treatment as I've not been for one before, one piece of advice I had heard was drink some water and don't eat too much beforehand so as my appointment was in the morning I just had a pint of water and headed out to the clinic.

Smiles Beauty is right in the centre of town, located on Hope Street. When I arrived I was asked to fill in a form with my contact details and check against a list of possible ailments, the only thing I've had before is migraines so this was all I needed to mark. Then we went into the clinic room (there was also a toilet there in case you're wondering, this is the kind of thing I know many people like to know that a place has easy access to!).

In the treatment room the masseuse asked me if I had any allergies (none I know of), if there were any particular scents I didn't like, and where I found I had most tension (lower back and calves for me). She explained she would start with my legs & back then she left me alone to get changed and lie on the table covered with the towel & blanket.

I had opted for a 1 hour full body massage with the more tougher massage technique. The masseuse will ask if you prefer a gentle relaxing style or more of a deeper tissue type. With my rock-back I went for the latter. For this treatment the thing was to undress down to my pants (or knickers depending on your vernacular) and cover myself with the towel before she came back in. The masseuse gives you plenty of time to do this. I think my oils had a mix of bergamot, rose & geranium - as far as I could smell! I found this very pleasant.

She started the massage on my legs, then worked on my back, then asked me to turn over to tackle the front of my legs and arms. I'm usually not too shy about being naked in places like all female saunas etc., but in the case of a massage the blanket & towel is used to preserve your modesty all the way through. At no point was I left feeling vulnerable or uncomfortable - and you never should be for any kind of treatment. If you're not happy, you should say so. Smiles Beauty were very welcoming and I felt quite happy talking to my masseuse. We chatted generally for some of the time and for some of it we were quiet, you can probably set the pace of conversation depending on what you're comfortable with.

As I work at a computer all day doing a lot of detailed design work I really noticed a difference between my left and right side of the massage. My right is absolutely more tense. At points particularly on my right upper thigh, the small of my back and right shoulder the pressure was almost painful, but a kind of sadistic sounding good-painful! You could feel the pressure - say on a point in your back - a little bit painful tense but as soon as the masseuse moved on to the next part - say upwards along the spine - you felt better and were looking forward to the pressure going back round onto this point again. I believe this is how things like acupressure work too - relieving tension build up next to particular nerve and muscle connections.

Afterwards, the masseuse offered me a glass of water and left me to settle and get dressed again. I felt a little bit spacey and found my right arm was shaking a bit, similar to when I've tried to plank for too long! This wore off quickly. I felt very good, a tiny bit bleary eyed for about 20 minutes but pretty relaxed and energised. It's been a few hours since the massage now and I've eaten some food and feel a bit more tired and sore in my back, a bit like the day after a tough work out session.

The staff at Smiles Beauty Clinic were very polite and friendly and though compact the treatment room was very comfortable. I really enjoyed the massage and think it would be a great thing to do once a month if you could afford it. While that's out of reach for my pockets I would like to go again and maybe try out their Indian head massage or one of the body wraps. I would definitely go for the full body massage again but I would also make sure it was on a day where I had nothing much else to do. I think if I'd had to go back to work today it wouldn't have been great but as I'm off for Easter (or Aurora/Ostarea holiday if you're more of an old school pagan) I'm getting the full benefit! The weather is glorious today too which I think helps.

The folks at Smiles Beauty Clinic also told me to like their Facebook page for future special offers.

Also, my Bapu Royalty card arrived in the post today! The card allows me to save 10% on all orders at The Dhabba (Authentic North Indian Diner) and Dakhin (South Indian Kitchen) - of which, as regular readers of the blog will know, I am an ardent fan.